Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Merion Golf Club will continue to host historic USGA championships for decades to come after the United States Golf Association announced Thursday that the club has been designated as the fourth U.S. Open anchor site.<\/p>\n
The announcement comes just months after Merion hosted the 126th U.S. Amateur, which drew an estimated 20,000-plus fans and marked the most-attended U.S. Amateur on record. <\/p>\n
The new designation is meant to strengthen the long-term partnership between golf\u2019s governing body and one of the sport\u2019s most iconic venues, the USGA said in a news release. <\/p>\n
\u201cMerion has long been one of the defining venues in championship golf,\u201d said John Bodenhamer, chief championships officer of the USGA. \u201cIts history, architecture, and ability to consistently identify the game\u2019s greatest champions make it a place where every player dreams of winning. The anchor site designation is about more than just semantics. It represents a shared commitment between the USGA and Merion to plan further in advance, make strategic investments, and continually elevate the championship experience.\u201d <\/p>\n
The other three U.S. Open anchor sites are: Pebble Beach Golf Links in California, Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in North Carolina, and Westen Pa.\u2019s Oakmont Country Club, which is located on the Allegheny River in the Pittsburgh suburbs.<\/p>\n
The purpose of the anchor sites is to create long-term partnerships with historic venues. Knowing that major championships will be regular occurrences at Merion \u2014 nearly every five years through 2050 \u2014 will allow the USGA and the club to \u201cbetter invest in infrastructure, improve the player and fan experience, and enhance relationships with local communities and volunteers,\u201d according to the USGA. <\/p>\n
Merion will host the U.S. Open in 2030, 2040, and 2050 and the U.S. Women\u2019s Open in 2034 and 2046. It will be the first time Merion has hosted the U.S. Women\u2019s Open.<\/p>\n
The USGA believes that the game\u2019s most iconic championships should be played at the most respected venues. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor more than a century, Merion has been the home for some of the most memorable moments in championship golf,\u201d Merion Golf Club president Topper Ray said. <\/p>\n
Some of those memorable moments include Bobby Jones completing the Grand Slam in 1930, Ben Hogan sticking his famous 1-iron shot on the final hole of the 1950 U.S. Open, and Lee Trevino beating Jack Nicklaus in a playoff to capture the 1971 U.S. Open. Most recently, the club hosted the 2013 U.S. Open, which didn\u2019t see a single player finish at par or better and was won by Justin Rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Anchor Site designation reflects not only that remarkable history, but a shared commitment between Merion and the USGA to the future of the game,\u201d Ray said. \u201cIt also recognizes generations of Merion members whose stewardship, volunteerism, and love of the game have made this club one of golf\u2019s great championship venues. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs we look ahead, this partnership allows us to continue stewarding Merion for our members, while giving the next generation of champions the opportunity to add to our remarkable championship story.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min Merion Golf Club will continue to host historic USGA championships for decades to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,368600,99],"class_list":["post-876013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-merion-golf-club-us-open-dates-usga-anchor","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}